They began their regular season as defending CIS Champions with some new faces and high expectations. On Thursday night, under the lights at Ron Joyce Stadium, the Marauders finished with a perfect 5-0 record, as McMaster's women's rugby team beat the Western Mustangs 43-7.

Katie Svoboda scored a game high three tries for the Marauders while her sister, Sara Svoboda, sent four converts through the uprights. Sara currently sits 4^th in the OUA scoring race, having notched 50 points this season.

It was a hard fought match from the start with Western pressing early. The Marauders dug deep defensively, making several stops, 5 yards from their own touch line, early in the first half.

However, MAC proved why they held rank in the No.1 spot in the CIS for the entire season, as their smart strategic play earned them the first score of the game. After a beautiful kick for touch by Steph Black, Maddi Cohoon opened the scoring on a driving maul, putting McMaster on the board 5-0.
 
In the dying seconds of the first half, MAC overpowered Western's defence off a scrum and Katie Svoboda touched it down on a pushover try for her first score of the game, 10-0 at the break.  

The Marauders never looked back.

It was an explosive start to the second half, as MAC scored 4 tries in 22 minutes, taking a commanding 36-0 lead over Western. 

After a late converted try by the Mustangs, Black had a burst of speed down the middle, beating Western's full-back and touching down for the try as the clock wound down. Sara Svoboda made no mistake and chiped it through the uprights for the convert, as the whistle was blown for a final score of 43-7.

McMaster will carry this momentum into the playoffs with the OUA quarter-finals happening next Saturday, October 15^th.